Despite the heat, July is trending only slightly above average

Heading through the month of July we have seen two heat waves already impact mid-Missouri. So far, out of the 19 days this month, 15 of them have had a daily high above the monthly high average of 87.9 degrees. The four days where we did see below average temperatures for the daily high, were within the first four days of the month. The past 15 days have seen a streak of at or above average temperatures during the hottest part of the day. The average high temperature for July 2017 is at 89.1 degrees.

Even though daily high temperatures have been consistently above average, it is looking like we are trending towards an only slightly above average month. When looking at the hottest Julys on record, we take into account both the daily high and low. When we consider both the high and low temperatures for this month, the average temperature is 79.3 degrees. That’s 1.9 degrees above the all time average of 77.4. That may seem noteworthy, but really is not too far above average. To put it into perspective, if we were to finish out this month with the current average of 79.3, it would be the 32nd hottest July on record… not too impressive.